April 5, 2023
Managing Fear
“…they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, It is I; do not be afraid.”
John 6:19b-20 (NASB)
If you live in Florida, you will experience a hurricane. Sometimes they are not serious and small. For some it is terrifying. It is impressive to see the sheer power of these events when conditions are right for an incredibly powerful storm. We see more wind and water events at these times, than we could ever imagine. I remember when Hurricane Matthew hit, my family had left for safety. I remained working. After the 98 mile an hour winds at our house subsided, I noticed the sycamore tree in my front yard. It had one side of the tree where the bark had literally been stripped off the tree from the rain alone. What an impressive, but dangerous event I witnessed that night. The winds were calm and then suddenly hurricane force within seconds.
“…they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat;” Matthew (14:25) and Mark (6:48) both report this crossing occurred sometime during the fourth watch of the night (sometime between three and six in the morning). The boat’s length is that of a modern delivery truck (about 26 foot), which had one sail, and oars for when there was little or no wind. That night the disciples worked hard to control the pace of the boat, but they seemed to be losing the battle. They were afraid of what might happen next. As “they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat.” The word theōros, or “saw,” invokes the graphic and dramatic picture of their emotion when they saw Him walking on the sea, “and they were frightened.” Frightened,” as we read this passage is a weak translation for the average reader in scripture today. The word is phobeō; which means to put to flight, to terrify, frighten.[1] It is where we get the modern word, phobia which is a morbid fear or uncontrollable dread. Perhaps the disciples thought it was an angel coming to deliver them into judgment. Perhaps the appearance of someone walking on water was so out of the ordinary it scared them to the point of jumping out of the boat. Whatever the disciples experienced that night, one thing is clear. They were terrified, and in the middle of a storm which could take their lives, much less the person coming toward them. But Jesus gave them the most comforting of words, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
Each one of us have times when the storms of life seem to be able to carry us off into an inescapable demise. We have times where the waves are so large, they seem to be able to drown us. We are terrified. We are frightened. We are even ready to flee if we could. We are consumed with our fears that it paralyzes us. Then something else more frightening happens. Something else is coming and it too is unknown. It’s so hard to see when storms hit hard. The disciples experienced it. Just as the boat seemed to be going down, they saw someone on the waves. It was Jesus walking. He even appeared to be above them, not swimming, or treading water. It was their Master. No waves, no wind, and nothing could deter Him. You see, Jesus is the One who created all these conditions. He is the One who created all we see and experience today. He walked on the sea. Jesus suspended gravity during this time, by walking on the sea. “He said to them, It is I; do not be afraid.” Today, if you are experiencing a dreadful fear, know God is above all your biggest fears. He knows and He cares. He saw the disciples fears and met them where they were in their fears, so don’t be afraid He says, “It is I.”
[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).